“I thought offensively, they turned up their pressure," Bickerstaff said. "They started to attack off the bounce. They played with a lot of speed and a lot of force to get into the paint. Once they got into the paint, they were able to kick out to guys."

Bickerstaff called the team's last timeout with 43.5 seconds left after Barton gave the Nuggets their first lead of the game at 91-89 on a 3-pointer.

The play Bickerstaff called worked to perfection.

Conley took the inbound pass at the top of the key. He drew a double-team while coming off a Kyle Anderson screen. Then he dished to Anderson.

Denver's defense collapsed on Anderson, and he fired a pass to Justin Holiday on the left wing.

Holiday drained the open 3-pointer to put the Grizzlies ahead 92-91 with 36.3 seconds left.

Denver called timeout and Nikola Jokic scored a go-ahead basket on the other end with 28 seconds left.

Now what?

Having burned their timeouts, the Grizzlies trailed by a point with an unfamiliar lineup of Conley, Holiday, Bruno Caboclo, Anderson and Marc Gasol on the floor.

Holiday and Caboclo joined the team this month. Anderson just returned after missing eight games from injury.

But they made it work.

Conley got a pick from Anderson as the clock ticked under 20 seconds. Conley drew a double-team and passed to Anderson, who was cutting toward the paint.

Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton (5) celebrates after scoring in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)(Photo11: Brandon Dill, AP)

"The way they played him, Kyle ended up in the picket and had an opportunity to make a play," Bickerstaff said.

But as Anderson neared the basket, two collapsing Nuggets defenders did not bite on his pump-fake.

So as the clock dwindled below 11 seconds remaining, Anderson took a fadeaway jumper.

He missed it short.

"Kyle got a pretty decent look at the rim," Conley said.

The ball ricocheted off a collection of hands right back in to Anderson's grasp. He offered a jab-step at the top of the key, created some separation from Jokic and fired a jumper with seven seconds left.

It clanged off the right side of the rim.

"We’ve got to be better with the ball down the stretch, especially me, probably 95 percent me," Anderson said. "I’ve got to make to make better decisions and finish when I could."

Anderson almost got a third chance. He chased the ball down on the right baseline as the clock ticked under five seconds.

He tapped his feet along the baseline as he offered up a high-arching prayer.

The shot careened over the corner of the backboard and hit nothing but net.

Cheers from the stands drowned out the sound of the referee's whistle.

Anderson had stepped out of bounds. The basket did not count, even though officials reviewed the play.

As they did, Anderson looked up at the FedExForum video monitors to watch the replay. But he said later that he didn't expect the call to be reversed.

“It is what it is, missing shots," he said. "I’ve got to take my time. I’ll see those possessions a lot more in my career. I’ve got to be better.”

One last chance

Denver inbounded the ball with 3.5 seconds remaining, leading by one. The Grizzlies forced Denver to burn a timeout with solid defense.